Third Way Christians
I heard a preacher once who talked about how much he hated green olives, and so sometimes when he would go to his favourite pizza place, he would order green olives on his pizza and force himself to eat them.
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He also talked about sometimes seeing that a movie was coming out, something that he really wanted to see and had been waiting for, and how he would deliberately choose to not go see it.
He used one more example, of hating a particular type of physical exercise with a passion, and yet making that same exercise a regular part of his workout routine.
The reason he gave for all of this was this:
He wanted to strengthen his ability to sacrifice.
His theory was that if he were able to train his mind, his soul, and his body to do things that they found unpleasant, but which were ultimately of little consequence, that it would strengthen his resolve for the times that would inevitably come that required true sacrifice.
In a world obsessed with “me,” this guy was actively working lay down his own desires and preferences on some little things, so that when the big things came along, his will and resolve would be already prepared to choose the tougher path of sacrifice.
And sacrifice, of course, is a key element of following in the path of Christ. You cannot follow Him without it.
One of the best-known Scriptures in the Bible is John 3.16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
This single verse has been called the Gospel in a nutshell. Of course there is much more than can and should be said about the Gospel, but if we are looking for a short, clear, concise statement to give us the big picture, this is a great one.
God loves us. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His Son to save us. This Gospel comes by faith, by trusting and following the Son of God, and eternal life is the ultimate reward.
It is a beautiful statement from the book of John.
However, there is more than one book of John in Scripture! We have the Gospel of John, quoted above, and then we also have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, which are shorter letters written by the apostle that make up part of the New Testament.
And while John 3.16 is a powerful and important statement, it is also not the only John 3.16 that is powerful. Check out 1st John 3.16:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
So God’s love for us apparently has a very clear definition. This is how we know what God’s love is: Jesus died for us. That’s what love looks like. God’s love looks like a cross. That’s the fullness of how His love has been demonstrated towards us.
But there is more: Because we’ve been loved in such a way, we are also to love in the same way. Because He sacrificed for us, we are to sacrifice for others.
And while literally dying for our brothers and sisters may not be something that we face in our lives, that is the bar that has been set for us.
The subtext, of course, is that if self-sacrificing death is what we are called to, then we are also called to every other lesser level of sacrifice for our brothers and sisters as well. Jesus put His people ahead of Himself; we are called to put others ahead of ourselves as well (Phil 2.1-11).
When we do this, we follow in the way of Christ. Christ, who loved us more than His own life, who put us before Himself, who was willing to endure pain and death for our sake, who did not make it all about Him.
Sacrifice is the way of Christ. Putting others first is the way of Christ. Enduring hardship for others is the way of Christ. Loving others is the way of Christ.
John 3.16 gives us the Gospel in a nutshell. 1st John 3.16 gives us our response to the Gospel in a nutshell. And as always, our response to the Gospel is always to imitate Jesus and become more like Him, worshiping and thanking Him as we do.
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